Building wall construction



Dec. 16, 1969 R. s, GREGOIRE BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Feb. 19, 1968 4 HES TA S GRE-Gng BY um A, @2M/ ATTORNEY Dec. 16, 1969 R. s. GREGOIRE 3,483,663

BUILDING WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 19, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 www??` f L4o M34 E@ Ls@ L52 L H65 ,sa 38 42 [38H30 L5934 Les 54) F7616 KQ 28 INVENTOR HE S721 S. GREGOIRE BY /M W ATTORNEY Unite States Patent O 3,483,663 BUILDNG WALL CONSTRUCTION Resta S. Gregoire, Newport, Pa., assignor to Gregoire Engineering @z Development Co., Adelphi, Md., a corporation of Maryland Filed Feb. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 706,379 lint. Cl. EilZd 27/00; Eillf 19/00; Eib 1/62 U.S. Ci. 52-293 2 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DlSClLGSURE This invention comprises a building wall structure of sheet panel wall and base and support assemblies composed of a base of concrete or like material extending all around the building and having studs and other supports extending vertically thereform and supporting one or more tiers of panel wall assembliesy each having one or more, preferably four, formed sheet panels with three interlocking joint means at the side edges of adjacent panels such as a triangular sectioned lock strip mounted over the ilanged edges of these panels, adjacent panel wall assemblies being similarly interlocked in each tier, said panel wall assemblies having means at their lower edges for locking over said studs or other supports, and cap strips extending over their upper edges providing for the upper tiers to be mounted in spaced relation over these cap strips, said supports having lateral support means for said capped upper edges.

This invention is an improvement over structures such as disclosed in the Carew Patent No. 3,216,163, issued Nov. 9, 1965.

The object of this invention is to provide an economical, strong and attractive wall construction for large buildings.

A further object is to make formed sheet panels having optimum strength-to-weight ratios, with interlocking joint means for easy assembly of a plurality of panels, to be handled as a unit in the erection of a one or more tiered walls, using the same joining means between adjacent assemblies, as they are erected in each tier.

A further object is to provide a base for a wall having studs for locking to the lower edges of the wall panel assemblies in the rst tier, and frame supports extending to the height of the top of each tier and spaced inwardly therefrom to engage the cap strips along the top edges of the tiers to provide lateral support thereto, and additional load support to the panels in the next higher tier.

A further object is to provide a form of sheet panel construction having dovetail grooves and ridges, which will be attractive not only per se, but will be adapted for easy change in appearance by the use of inexpensive inserts which may be clipped into the dovetail grooves and/ or ridges on either side of the panels to provide an innumerable variety of different attractive design combinations.

A further object is to make a sheet panel wall assembly having a plurality of panels of the above type joined together and provided with a cap strip mounted over their upper edges and a hanger-apron strip mounted over their lower edges and having a hanger portion extending upwardly at the rear of the panels and an apron portion extending downwardly at the front thereof.

A further object is to construct a building wall structure having interlocked sheet panel wall and support and base assemblies, including a base of concrete or like material extending all around the building with a row of studs and a row of supports extending vertically therefrom to serve as anchors for one or more tiers of said interlocked sheet panel wall assemblies.

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A further object is to construct a building wall structure having interlocked sheet panels of the above type and support and base assemblies including a base of concrete or other material extending around the building and having support means extending upwardly therefrom to serve as anchors for one or more tiers of said panels in said wall structure in vertically spaced relation to allow for thermal expansion of said panels without relative displacement or canning thereof.

Other and more specific objects will appear in the following detailed description of a preferred form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l illustrates a building structure using the wall construction of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the wall taken on the line 2 2 of FIG. l,

FIGS. 2a and 2b are end and side views respectively of an extrusion of sealing material such as rubber which may be used as indicated in FIG. 2,

FIG. 3 is a plan sectional view of the support assemblies taken on the line 3 3 of FIG. 2, omitting the panel wall assemblies,

FIG. 4 is a front view in elevation of one of the panel wall assemblies,

FIG. 5 is a sectional view in plan taken on the line 5 5 in FlG. 4,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view in plan taken on the line 6 6 in FIG. 4,

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detail view in perspective, of a cap element for lling the gap over a joint between panel wall assemblies in a tier, and

FIG. 8 is a detail view in elevation of a portion of the top of two adjacent panel wall assemblies joined together with a sealing cap element over the joint.

In FIG. l, a building 10 having the wall construction of the present invention is shown to visualize a wall height requiring four tiers 12, 14, 16 and 18, some of the panel wall assemblies in the lower tier 12 incorporating doors 20 and windows 22 in any suitable manner desired.

A section taken approximately on line 2 2 in FIG. l is shown in enlarged detail in FIG. 2 to illustrate a preferred form of stud and support structure and panel wall assemblies used in this building. The studs 24 are embedded in the concrete base 26 in a row spaced from the outer edge or" the base, to serve as an anchor for the lower edge of the panel wall assemblies 28 which has a hanger-apron strip 3i) with a hanger portion 32 extending upwardly at the back of the panels 34 over the row of studs, strip 3G having an apron portion 36 extending downwardly at the front to overlap the top of the outer face of the base 26.

Although the panel wall assemblies 28 are herein illustrated as each being composed of four panels 34 joined together at the side edges of adjacent panels by lock strips 4t), each panel wall assembly 28 may have any other number of panels 34 in the assembly with joints comprising triangular-section-formed sheet lock strips 4i) mounted over the rectangular channel flanges 42 at the edges of adjacent panels, each channel facing inwardly of its panel, the sides of said triangular lock strips being biased against the opposed channel bottoms of said rectangular channel flanges; and each assembly 28 has a channel cap strip 38 extending over the top of the panels, with its ends spaced from the side edges of the assembly suiiciently to allow sliding of a lock strip 40 into place over the ilanges 42 at the side edges of adjacent panel wall assemblies in a tier, before placing the cap element 44 over this joint in the gap between the adjacent cap strips. A substantially resilient sealing pad 46 is fixed to the top and front of this cap element and extends upwardly at the back as well as endwise from the cap element so as to overlap the ends of the adjacent cap strips 38 in the tier and thus provide a good seal over these joints.

The space over the cap strips and these cap elements under the hanger-apron strips 30 of assemblies 28 mounted in the next upper tier may further be filled with additional sealing material 48 such as sponge rubber or resilient plastics, so as to fill these spaces completely. The upwardly extending portion of pad 46 should be high enough to extend behind the lower edge of the hanger portions of the adjacent strips 30 of the panel wall assemblies in the upper tier.

Insulation slabs 50 may be fixed over the entire width of the inner faces of the panel wall assemblies, as shown and extend vertically from the top of the corresponding hanger portion 32 up to the lower edge of the cap strip 38. The slabs 50 may be glued or otherwise xed to the insulation strips 52 mounted in all or any portions of the dovetail grooves as may be desired, and extend slightly out of the grooves, thus providing an air space between the slab 50 and the sheet panel faces between the grooves for increased insulation.

The channel beams 54 are mounted horizontally between H-beams 56 by means of angle brackets 58 at suitable heights with respect to the tiers of panel wall assemblies, to provide girt members 60 having faces 62 for laterally supporting the upper edges of the lower tier and ledges 64 for receiving the hanger portions 32 of the upper tier, so as to support it in spaced relation above the cap strips 38 at a distance less than the length of the apron portions 36 of the upper tier of assemblies 28, so that the apron portions will overlap and hold the upper edges of the lower tiers laterally against the lateral support faces 62 of the corresponding girt members.

The lower edges of the channel beams 54 are spaced from the upper edge of the insulation slab 50, and this space may be iilled by a resilient sealing extrusion 66 formed as shown in FIGS. 2a and 2b, with a plurality of axial ridges 68 extending to both sides of a central strip 72 which has a cap strip 70 at its outer edge for covering the opening of a space in which it may be mounted. As the central strip is pushed into the space over the top of the insulation slab 50, the ridges 68 are readily bent over the sides of the central strip 72 and are wedged against the sides of the space so as to prevent movement of the sealing extrusion outwardly of the space, once it has been pushed fully inwardly, so as to keep its cap strip 70 snugly against the space opening.

This wall construction presents an attractive outside appearance due to the dovetail groove and ridge formation, especially in combination with a variable shading or coloring between the several tiers, as e.g. by making the lowermost tier dark and the upper tiers of successively lighter shades or brighter colors to the lightest or brightest at the top, or vice versa.

Decorative insert strips 74 of various colors and attractive filigr strips 76 of inexpensive materials may further be clipped between the sides of the grooves or between alternate grooves, as may be seen e.g. at 78 in broken lines in FIG. 5, in accordance with any design as may be desired, or over the ridges, to obtain innumerable different artistic combinations at little expense. The same insert materials may be used in different arrangements to change the design from time to time, so as to present freshly new appearances at hardly any expense.

4 Distinctive lighting effects may also be produced by the use of lights 80 within or outside of the grooves.

Many obvious structural modifications in the details or arrangements of parts may be made.

What is claimed is: 1. lsheet panel wall and supporting base construction omprismg a foundation base having a row of studs extending vertically therefrom along the line of the wall, a tier of at least one wall assembly having hanger strips fixed to their lower edges, said hanger strips having hanger portions hung over said studs and having a downwardly extending apron portion overlapping the outer edge of said base, means joining the side edges of adjacent wall assemblies in said tier, each wall assembly having a cap strip extending over its upper edge along the entire length of said assembly between said joining means, a support structure extending vertically from said base back of said studs, girt members mounted on sai-d support structure and extending outwardly to form an upwardly extending horizontal ledge substantially aligned over said studs at the level of the top of said tier, said ledge having an outer vertical face providing lateral support for the back of the upper edges of said wall assemblies, and means extending from said horizontal ledge in vertically spaced relation over said cap strip and having an apron portion extending over the outer face thereof for holding said upper edges against said outer vertical face. 2. A wall construction as defined in claim 1, and at least one additional tier of said wall assemblies mounted over said first tier, additional girt members on said support structure at the level of the top of each additional tier, said girt members having similar ledges, the hanger strips of each additional tier having hanger portions hung over the ledges of the girt members which laterally support the upper edges of the tiers below and having apron portions extending downwardly from the outer edges thereof, each additional tier being supported by its hanger strips in slightly spaced relation above the upper edge of the lower tier, its apron portion slidingly overlapping the upper edge of the lower tier to support it against said outer vertical face of said ledge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,747,703 5/ 1956 Broberg 52-395 X 2,802,551 8/1957 Roberts 52-222 X 2,888,983 6/1959 Toti 52-222 X 2,971,616 2/1961 Bayley 52-395 X 3,226,907 1/1966 Gregoire 52-28 X 3,229,429 1/1966 Conrad 52-28 X 3,300,926 1/ 1967 Heirich 52-625 X FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner PRICE C. FAW, IR., Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

